A Midsummer's Equation

FIFTY

Isobe was quick to claim the right to question Sawamura, sensing an opportunity to earn some points with upper management. He brought along his own men, of course, but surprisingly, chose Nishiguchi to take notes. Nishiguchi walked toward the interrogation room, wondering why he’d been picked, but he didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“Nishiguchi here is from town,” Isobe said. “He knows your family’s appliance shop, and he knows about the Green Rock Inn. He was classmates with the Kawahatas’ daughter and knows the parents, so he knows what kind of folks they are and what they’re liable to do or not do. Keep that in mind when you tell us exactly what happened.”

In other words, he brought along Nishiguchi for some local cred. However, Nishiguchi didn’t think any of that was really necessary. He could tell by the look in Sawamura’s eyes that the man was ready to talk.

“I’ve no intention of hiding anything,” he began. “Yes, Mr. Kawahata turned himself in, and I didn’t, which is a little awkward, but if he’d told me beforehand, I would’ve been here with him.”

“Okay, well, why don’t you tell us what happened, in as much detail as possible.”

Sawamura took a deep breath. “As I think you’re already aware, I was with Narumi and the others at a bar that night. We ran into Narumi’s mother out front, and I offered to give her a ride home in my pickup truck, which I’d left parked out in front of the station.”

“And you had no idea what was going on at the Green Rock Inn at that time?”

“Of course not. I was with the other people in Save the Cove the entire day.”

“Fine,” Isobe grunted. “Go on.”

“When we got to the inn, Mr. Kawahata was out in the lobby, just standing there. His wife asked him what was wrong, and he said he’d let one of the guests die.”

Nishiguchi paused his typing and looked up at Sawamura, but a glare from Isobe sent him back to his keyboard.

“So what you’re saying is that at the time you got there, it was already over?”

“That’s right. Mr. Kawahata said he’d found their guest lying on the floor in one of the rooms and knew immediately that the cause had been a boiler malfunction.”

“And what did Mr. Kawahata say he would do about it?”

“Well, he said we needed to tell the police.”

Isobe raised an eyebrow. “And yet he didn’t. Why not?”

Sawamura took a quick, pained breath before saying, “I stopped him.”

“Why?”

“Because…” He paused, chewing his lip before continuing, “If word got out about what had happened, it would destroy Hari Cove. People would think everything in town’s falling apart, and what’s left of our tourism industry would die.”

“I see. You’re one of the activists working against the undersea development, aren’t you? That why you took such an, er, proactive stance?”

“I just wanted to save our town.”

“Right. So, what did Mr. Kawahata have to say about your idea? He changed his mind on the spot?”

“No, he was torn at first. But I told him this wasn’t just about his inn. I told him if word got out about this, it would affect the entire town and everyone living in it, so he asked me what he should do. That’s when I told him we should move the body to a different place.”

“So it was your idea?” Isobe asked, leaning forward and speaking clearly to drive home how important this particular point was.

“That’s right. And it was my idea to drop him on those rocks.”

“And the Kawahatas went along with this idea?”

“Not at first, no. They seem very troubled about it. But I told them that if we spent too much time up there, making it look like it had happened somewhere else would no longer be an option. That got them moving.”

According to Sawamura’s story, he carried Tsukahara entirely by himself. Putting the body on the flatbed of his truck, he drove down to the seawall with Shigehiro. With his leg, Shigehiro hadn’t been much help when it came to dropping Mr. Tsukahara over the seawall, either.

After bringing Shigehiro back to the Green Rock Inn, Sawamura went back home, dropped off his truck, then headed to the bar. He managed to act like nothing happened in front of his friends, but he admitted he hadn’t really been able to follow the conversation at all.

“That’s what happened. I know there are criminal charges for abandoning a body, and I won’t deny my guilt. So please—” Sawamura took another breath before continuing, “please let Narumi go. She knew nothing of any of this. She had nothing at all to do with it.”

As he listened to this final, impassioned plea, it dawned on Nishiguchi why this man had been so eager to admit his culpability. He must’ve heard that Narumi was a suspect—and hoped he could get her off the hook.

Because any man who spends enough time around her starts to love her, Nishiguchi thought, glancing at Sawamura out of the corner of his eye as he typed.